NEW YORK — Megyn Kelly’s turbulent two-year run at NBC News is over as both sides reached an agreement Friday night on her exit from the network. Terms of her departure were not disclosed, but people familiar with the negotiations said the former morning show host is leaving with the money she was owed on
NEW YORK — Megyn Kelly’s turbulent two-year run at NBC News is over as both sides reached an agreement Friday night on her exit from the network.
Terms of her departure were not disclosed, but people familiar with the negotiations said the former morning show host is leaving with the money she was owed on her contract, which is said to be about $30 million. Kelly is free to work for an NBC competitor.
“The parties have resolved their differences, and Megyn Kelly is no longer an employee of NBC,” a representative of NBC said.
The split follows 21/2 months of negotiations. The exit talks commenced after the TV news personality caused a furor with remarks she made on her now canceled show “Megyn Kelly Today,” in which she defended the use of blackface as a Halloween costume.
Kelly apologized for her remarks, which were condemned online and on the air by NBC News colleagues. But Oct. 24 was her final day on air as the host of the 9 a.m. hour of the “Today” franchise that carried her name.
“Today” regulars, Al Roker, Craig Melvin, Dylan Dreyer and Sheinelle Jones have taken over the program’s third hour, which has seen its audience grow since Kelly’s departure.
Kelly’s relationship with the network had deteriorated in recent months as “Megyn Kelly Today” lost viewers and brought negative coverage and reviews. The program had difficulty attracting big-name celebrity guests after Kelly made actress Jane Fonda uncomfortable with a question about her plastic surgery during her second day.
NBC News made a big bet on Kelly becoming its next signature star. The division poached her from Fox News in January 2017 with an annual salary reportedly in excess of $20 million a year.
The news division also took the extraordinary step of putting Kelly’s name in the title of her hour of the “Today” franchise. That has happened only one time in the program’s 67-year history, when it was called “The Dave Garroway Today Show” in 1960. Garroway was the program’s first host and one of television’s earliest superstars.
